


World Victory Tour - Panama City

by nanuk_dain



Series: Drift Compatible [56]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Drifting, M/M, PBC (Post-Breach-Collapse), PPDC World Victory Tour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 19:16:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18394685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanuk_dain/pseuds/nanuk_dain
Summary: The K-Science team has some very interesting theories to share - about Yancy Becket.





	World Victory Tour - Panama City

**Author's Note:**

> Another part, and this time it's a longer fic, as promised ^_^ And plot, there'll be plot! Enjoy :D

_Panama City, Panama, February 26th 2025_

 

Mako is sitting in a really comfy armchair in the conference room of their hotel in Panama City and waits for Raleigh and Chuck to show up. She received a message from Caitlin Lightcap last night asking for a video conference with all three of them, but the scientist gave no further indication of what she wants to talk about. It seemed important, though, so Mako cleared an hour in their schedule at a time that would work for Kodiak Island, too, since Panama City is four hours ahead of them. 

She wonders what is happening that Dr Lightcap would want to talk to them about. It's not about the research for the Civilian Explorers nor the new Mark series, or she wouldn't have asked for Chuck and Raleigh to be present. Before Mako can start brooding for real, Chuck enters the room and holds the door open for Raleigh. Mako smiles to herself while observing them. She finds it utterly adorable how considerate Chuck is with Raleigh, especially because he's not even aware of doing it. 

"So, what is this about?" Chuck asks while taking a seat in one of the armchairs surrounding the table. 

"I have no idea." Mako replies honestly. "But Dr Lightcap will call any minute now. I'm sure she will tell us more."

As if her words were the cue, the huge screen on the front wall flickers to life and a connection establishes to the new drift lab on the Proving Grounds on Kodiak Island. Dr Lightcap is sitting in front of the camera and Dr Gottlieb and Dr Geiszler are to her left. There are several boxes visible in the background and the lab looks like it's not entirely furnished yet. That's not surprising, given that the move from Hong Kong is not complete yet.

"Good morning." Dr Lightcap greets them with a smile. "I'm glad you could arrange for a call so quickly. I know I was a bit vague in my message." 

"That is no problem, Dr Lightcap." Mako returns the smile, curious what the call is about. It doesn't seem to be bad news, since all three scientists are relaxed - or as relaxed as they ever get in Dr Gottlieb's case - and the only tension Mako can pick up on is anticipation. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"Parallel to researching the pons suitable for the Civilian Explorers, I'm still looking into the situation concerning Marshall Pentecost's drift capability." Dr Lightcap begins to explain. "Therefore we've been working on analysing all of Ranger Becket's available drift surveillance data to see if there is a comparability to Marshal Pentecost's situation." 

Mako nods in acknowledgement. She's well aware that it's one of Dr Lightcap's priorities to assess the situation concerning Sensei, because it's of importance to the PPDC's future whether Sensei and Hansen-san can be deployed as a perfect match in a Jaeger or not. Mako knows that so far, Sensei has not undertaken another drift attempt because the risks are not foreseeable at this point in time. She also knows that he must be craving to drift with Hansen-san again, and that he's only refraining because he respects Dr Lightcap's assessment to not attempt a drift until they can predict with reasonable certainty what it's going to do to him. He knows that attempting another drift would be an unnecessary risk at the moment and right now his duty is to keep the PPDC going, not to fight Kaiju in a Jaeger. 

"Well, while going over the records, we picked up some very interesting anomalies in the surveillance data from Mori's and Becket's drifts together." Dr Geiszler chimes in and pulls up some charts that pop up in a side panel of the screen so that Mako, Chuck and Raleigh can read them. 

"Do you see what we're referring to?" Dr Lightcap asks quietly, and her voice tells Mako that she knows Mako sees it. 

"There are moments when Raleigh and I seem to be at a 100% match." Mako says immediately because _of course_ she sees what they're talking about.

"Which should be impossible given that you are highly compatible, but not a perfect match - which we can absolutely rule out because your ghost drift completely faded with time." Dr Geiszler points out, the excitement plain in his voice.

"You have a theory what's going on, don't you? And somehow it concerns all three of us." Chuck asks with a suspicious note in his voice. He's surprisingly good at reading people when he wants to, Mako knows. Most times he just doesn't bother to do it.

Dr Lightcap nods. "We do, but we'd like to check a few things first. Depending on the answers you give us, it could render our theory invalid, so we want to make sure."

"Makes sense." Chuck admits, obviously willing to play along for now. 

"Ranger Mori, can you tell me what you experienced when you went out of phase with Becket during your first drift? Do you know what memory it was that made you go out of phase?"

Mako has no problems recalling that specific moment. It was overwhelming and intensely painful, it's burnt into her memory forever. "I was in Gipsy Danger's Conn-Pod, during the Knifehead attack. Yancy was next to me, I felt Knifehead's claws digging into the Conn-Pod, and then I saw Raleigh disappear from my view when I was ripped out of the Conn-Pod and then there was intense pain and then... nothing."

"Interesting." Dr Lightcap nods slowly while taking some notes. Mako can see Dr Geiszler grinning next to her, right before Dr Gottlieb elbows him in the side. "So you experienced the events from multiple points of view, Raleigh's as well as Yancy's?"

"Yes. Mostly Yancy's, though. I saw it through Raleigh's eyes only at the very beginning." Mako confirms and sees Dr Lightcap give a little but definitely pleased smile. Mako has never given the fact that there had been a change in point of view any thought, she'd always assumed it was normal because Raleigh and Yancy had been connected during the events. She never drifted with anybody but Raleigh, so her experience is limited and she has nothing to compare it to.

"Can you tell me if you experienced other memories from Yancy's point of view in subsequent drifts?" Dr Lightcap enquires.

Mako considers the question for a moment because she never paid it any attention before. But now that she's thinking about it... "Yes, it happened several times. In all of our drifts. I always assumed it was a side effect of the fact that Raleigh's and Yancy's drift was never properly disconnected."

"Well, that certainly plays a part in it, but probably not in the way you think." Dr Gottlieb says in his typical dry voice, while Dr Geiszler's grin is getting broader and broader. He seems barely able to retrain himself, he's practically brimming with excitement.

"Let me guess: You think that the times when Mako saw memories from my brother's point of view are somehow connected to the periods of time when we jumped to 100% connection strength, don't you?" Raleigh asks carefully, and when Mako glances at him, she sees the tension in his frame. He's sitting very straight and his shoulders are squared as if he's bracing for something unpleasant. Mako knows it's the mention of his brother, who is still a sore spot for Raleigh. The situation with Yancy being stuck in Raleigh's brain is still far from resolved, after all. And after the stunt Yancy pulled with Chuck, Raleigh holds a lot of contradictory feelings towards his brother.

"In a way, yes." Dr Lightcap agrees. "Sadly we can't connect the memories you experienced with precise moments in time since there's no way to document the content of a memory from the outside." 

"That is not your entire theory, though, is it?" Mako asks pointedly because she's sure that Dr Lightcap wouldn't have requested a meeting with them for just that piece of information. 

"Actually, we think that every time you were at 100% compatibility, it wasn't Raleigh you were connected to. It was Yancy. You were sharing memories with Yancy, which is why you were able to see Knifehead's attack on Gipsy from _Yancy's_ perspective as well as Raleigh's. The moment you switched the point of view was the moment you connected to Yancy." Dr Geiszler is obviously very excited about the development, Mako wouldn't be surprised to see him clap his hands. "This is confirmed now that we established that that's also the exact moment when you and Raleigh went out of phase."

"Why would I connect to Yancy?" Mako wonders out loud. It doesn't make much sense to her. Sure, he's inhabiting a part of Raleigh's brain at the moment, which means that he's involved in Raleigh's drifts in some way, but she doesn't have any reason to connect to him. She doesn't even know him.

"Because you're his perfect match." Dr Geiszler blurts out excitedly before Dr Lightcap has a chance to put it more tactfully. Judging by the way she's glaring at him, it's obvious that she doesn't approve of the way he presented their theory.

"She's _what_?" Chuck blurts out at the same moment that Raleigh gasps, " _Excuse me?!_ "

Mako is just as surprised as they are, but her natural tendency to keep a lid on her feelings allows her to not shout out in surprise. Instead she raises an eyebrow and asks with plenty of disbelief in her voice, "Are you actually suggesting I might be a perfect match with Raleigh's brother whom I've never even met and who currently doesn't even have a brain that could be accessed in a pons?"

"Yes! We think it's part of why you and Raleigh had such an incredibly high compatibility right from the start, without any shared history or memories." Dr Geiszler is all too happy to delve further into the topic and seems completely unaffected by - or unaware of - their scepticism. "It's why you could pick up on his emotions so well. You tapped not only into Yancy's memories, but also into his knowledge about Raleigh. And because Yancy doesn't have his own brain at the moment, your ghost drift had nowhere to linger from his end of the connection and therefore faded. But tell me, Miss Mori, how long did it take for your ghost drift with Raleigh to fade?"

"About two days." Mako replies politely, but she's hard pressed to keep the frown off her face. 

"That is unusually long. The average is half a day. A day is the known maximum for normally linked pilots." Dr Gottlieb informs them in his curt way of speaking.

"We also think that you being a perfect match is why you rabitted. Yancy's memories threw you off kilter because - due to the perfect match factor - you experienced them a lot stronger than would be the case in a drift with a normally linked drift partner." Dr Lightcap continues to explain. "We have checked your other drift data, Ranger Mori, and you're not prone to emotional spikes. You have a very tight grip of your emotions. Something really strong must have hit you in order to make you lose control like that."

"It is true that the memory of Knifehead's attack was a lot more intense than those I experienced from Raleigh's point of view." Mako admits, but she's still not convinced. Not even close. "I never saw Yancy in our drift other than as part of Raleigh's memories, though. I definitely never met him the way Chuck did. I never talked to him, I never interacted with him in any way. I have even less of a connection to Yancy than Chuck does."

"We assume that's because Raleigh was always conscious during your drifts and therefore Yancy was pushed into the background." Dr Lightcap replies with a short nod acknowledging Mako's point. It's obvious that the three scientists have already talked about all of these issues. Mako can tell it's not a spontaneous theory, but something they put a lot of thought in. She's not sure if that's reassuring or worrying. "We know that Yancy can only control the drift and consciously interact when Raleigh's consciousness is suppressed, like it was when we sedated him. So in order to meet or interact with Yancy, you would need to drift with Raleigh while he's sedated, like Chuck did."

"That's what we want to initiate, actually. A direct connection between you and Yancy." Dr Geiszler continues eagerly. "We suggest a three-way drift - much like the system the Wei Tang brothers use - between you, Chuck and a sedated Raleigh."

Mako is not one for disrespect, but for a moment she can't help wondering if maybe they've finally lost their mind for good. This is insane, even by the K-science team's heavily skewed standards. One of the main factors to make the drift machine work is that the participants are a perfect match with an _established_ connection. She isn't a perfect match with either Raleigh or Chuck. And even if she is one with Yancy - and she still has strong doubts about the K-science team's accuracy here - they have never drifted together before and therefore don't have an established connection that the machine could tap into. Not to mention that she finds it hard to believe that it could factor in at all given that Yancy is technically just a guest in Raleigh's brain. 

"You _are_ aware of the incredibly high risk of our minds being mixed up in the process of such a drift if your theory about Mako and Yancy being a perfect match is not correct, right? You're a bit too eager to turn us into a mind smoothie for my taste." Chuck retorts before Mako has the time to formulate an answer that isn't flat out rude. She can't even disapprove of the heavy sarcasm in his voice, no matter that it's impolite. He does have a point, after all. 

"There's a 98.6% probability of Miss Mori and Yancy Becket being a perfect match. That very high probability justifies the attempt of a three-way drift." Dr Gottlieb states in that dry way of his. Somehow Mako is not surprised he actually calculated the odds. He would never back an idea that the numbers don't support.

"And the remaining 1.4%?" Mako can't help asking, because it may be a small window of failure, but it's there and the consequences would be devastating. Not only for her, but for Chuck and Raleigh as well.

"Regard them as a teeny tiny residual risk." Dr Geiszler replies with a shrug, then he grins. "Keeps life interesting. No risk, no fun, you know."

Mako sees how Raleigh's hand clasps over Chuck's lower arm and she's sure he just kept Chuck from exploding into Dr Geiszler's face. She sees a muscle tick in Chuck's jaw, then he grumbles. "Yeah, easy for you to say. It's our lives on the line, after all, not yours."

Mako suppresses a smirk, but she does understand the sentiment. "Another issue is that I have never drifted with Yancy Becket. There is no established connection between us that your drift machine can work with."

"Actually, that's neither entirely wrong nor entirely correct." Dr Lightcap begins to explain, but Dr Geiszler chimes in before she can say more than that one sentence. "In a way, you _have_ drifted with him and established a connection. It happened during those times when you reached 100% connection strength during your drifts with Raleigh and it was actually Yancy you were connecting to. It was fleeting, admittedly, but it happened nevertheless. And frequently. The data proves it. It's that connection, never mind how slight it is, that we're trying to work with."

"'Trying' being the key word here. You have no idea if it actually works, do you?" Chuck interrupts, sounding anything but pleased. 

"Of course not, it's not like anybody ever attempted anything like this." Dr Geiszler says casually and shrugs, completely unfazed. "This situation has never existed before. We're doing pioneer science, here, guys!"

"I'm _so_ happy for you, but I'd still like to keep my brain in working order." Chuck replies without bothering to hide the sarcasm. 

"Your brain will be just fine." Dr Geiszler says seemingly without noticing the sarcasm. "We're reasonably sure that a mind mixup is not a risk since all drift participants are anchored by a perfect match connection." 

"'Reasonably sure' means what, exactly? Ninety per cent?" Chuck asks with serious doubt in his voice. Mako can't help but share his reservations.

"Make it more like seventy per cent." Dr Geiszler replies with another casual shrug.

"Tell me you're kidding." Chuck growls as if he already knows that Dr Geiszler isn't joking. He probably does, he's had enough experience with the scientist over the years.

Of course Dr Geiszler isn't kidding. "Seventy percent are really good odds." 

"That depends on whether you're the scientist or the Guinea pig." Chuck shoots back. Mako agrees with him, the odds may sound nice and reassuring to the K-Science team, but they are too high for Mako to agree to the suggestion of a three-way drift. It's also not the only problem she has with the plan.

"There is another issue. While Raleigh and I are obviously drift compatible, it's not given that that's also the case for Chuck and me."

"It is the case. We ran a compatibility test on you two and it came back with a 86% match. Sounds good enough to try." Dr Geiszler wipes away her argument as if it wasn't even worth considering. It reassures and annoys her in equal measure. If Dr Geiszler was less prone to reckless experiments, she would have been more reassured, but self-preservation is clearly not one of his character traits. _And_ she's quite certain he approaches other people's willingness to risk their lives in the name of science by the same standard he applies to himself. 

"At this moment in time, it's still only theory, anyway. We don't have a working three-way drift machine yet, especially not one converted to serve without a Jaeger interface." Dr Lightcap throws in as if to ease the rising tension. "This meeting was just meant to inform you of our findings and to run our theory by you, since it affects all three of you. We're not even close to actually conducting any experiments, so you can expect any process we develop to be a lot more refined when we get to that stage. We will not take any unnecessary risks with your health."

"That's nice to know." Chuck snarks, and Mako sees Raleigh elbowing him in the side.

"We also think that we should first give Yancy an opportunity to voice his opinion on our plans. They do concern him, after all, and are bound to have a major impact on him." Dr Lightcap continues without reacting to Chuck's comment. Constantly being around Dr Geiszler and Dr Gottlieb has probably made her immune to snarking, Mako can't help thinking.

"You want Chuck to drift with me again while I'm sedated, don't you?" Raleigh asks, although it's actually more a statement than a question.

"Yep. We also want to ask him a bunch of questions that should allow us to get a better grasp of his situation." Dr Geiszler replies enthusiastically. "Yancy might also be able to help us refine our plan for the three-way drift - well, four-way, really, if you count the minds involved instead of the physical forms."

Mako carefully watches Raleigh during the exchange. He's still tense, but it seems that Chuck's hand drawing soothing circles on his lower back has made him relax a little. She can tell that Raleigh is thinking about the options that open up due to the theories of the scientists as well as this suggested drift to contact Yancy. It'll be the first time they open up communication with him on purpose, the first time since Raleigh knows about his continued existence. That changes things.

Mako herself isn't quite sure what to make of the K-Science team's theories. They have good arguments, but she's not convinced that she and Yancy Becket are really a perfect match. 

"Anyway, we'll have to wait until the end of the World Victory Tour and your subsequent arrival on Kodiak Island before we can realise any of our ideas." Dr Lightcap remarks firmly, and her pointed look towards Dr Geiszler tells Mako that this is directed at him more than at them. "It'll give us time to refine our theories and methods. We'll keep you updated about any new findings. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact us."

"We will." Mako says with a nod and sees Raleigh and Chuck do the same. They say their goodbyes and then the connection is cut.

"I think I'm very glad that we're halfway across the world and well out of their reach right now." Chuck grumbles when the connection is cut and the screen flickers back to the hotel's logo.

Raleigh sighs heavily next to him. "Yeah, it's probably for the best that they have some time to work things over before they can experiment on us. I never thought I'd say this, but maybe this damn tour does have a good side after all." 

"You mean, keeping us well out of the K-Science team's reach for at least a few more weeks?" Chuck asks with a cocked eyebrow without ever stopping the slow caresses on Raleigh's back.

"Yes, that." Raleigh agrees. He's silent for a moment, obviously lost in thought, then he turns to face Mako. "What do you think, Mako? This theory of theirs has the most impact on you, after all."

"I'm not quite sure how much truth there is to it. I find it quite abstract to imagine Yancy as my perfect match, to be honest." Mako admits. She feels strange, because on one hand finding her perfect match has been her dream for years and she _wants_ it. But on the other hand she not only doubts the accuracy of the theory, she also doesn't dare to believe it, only to be disappointed when it proves to be incorrect. "I find it a bit too much of a coincidence that Yancy, of all people, should be my perfect match."

"It's not completely implausible, though." Chuck surprises her by saying in a pensive tone of voice. He seemed the most sceptic of the K-Science team's theory during the briefing, after all, and now he takes their side. That's unusual behaviour for him, to say the least.

"What do you mean?" Raleigh enquires and Mako can tell that he's as surprised by Chuck's words as she is.

"You have to admit that pretty much everybody was always amazed at the sync you and Rals have had from the very first moment on, especially considering that you had zero shared history at the time." Chuck begins to explain. "And while we're talking about facts, how do you explain that you two were at a 100% connection while simultaneously going out of phase? That makes absolutely no sense at all. In fact, that shouldn't even be possible. You shouldn't have been able to get to 100% at all, never mind maintaining it while being out of phase. And how do you explain that it coincides with you switching to Yancy's point of view? Or that your ghost drift took exceptionally long to fade? Or that you rabitted - because seriously, Mako, you're not thrown off kilter easily, and I should know, I tried to do it constantly when we were kids. You have to admit, it's hard to dismiss their arguments as fantasy or wishful thinking. There is some meat to their theory."

Mako can't help seeing his point. It doesn't convince her that Yancy is truly her perfect match, but it makes her consider the possibility that there's something different to her connection to Raleigh. She somehow always knew there was, if simply for the fact that she has never bonded to somebody that quickly in her entire life. Even her relationship to Sensei took a lot longer to establish, and she felt like she could trust him from the first moment on, when she'd seen him get out of Coyote Tango's Conn-Pod. Still, it took months and a lot of gentle coaxing for her to allow a real bond to him and later Tamsin-san. With Raleigh, it was just a few days. It's very atypical behaviour for her, that is true.

"I'm not saying that I'm completely sold on their perfect match theory or their three-way drift experiment - because I'm not, especially that experiment - but I can see where they're coming from." Chuck shrugs, the gesture a lot less casual than he probably aimed for. "In a strange way, it does actually make sense."

"They certainly gave us a lot to think about." Raleigh agrees when Chuck has fallen silent. "I don't quite know what to make of it yet, though."

"Me neither." Mako allows a little sigh to escape, because she knows both Chuck and Raleigh get it and won't judge her for being unsure on this specific subject. 

In a show of incredibly bad timing, the reminder alarm of Mako's tablet goes off and breaks the strange atmosphere that settled over them. Mako gets up and pushes her chair neatly up against the table. She is oddly relieved that she won't have any more time to ponder on the recent revelations at the moment. 

"I'm sorry, but I have a meeting in ten minutes." She explains to Chuck and Raleigh, who're watching her curiously. 

"Oh, yeah, sure." Chuck gets up as well, and Raleigh follows suit. "Actually, I think we are scheduled for a talk show in an hour as well."

"We are." Raleigh confirms while they're leaving the conference room. "We should get ready, the car will be here in some fifteen minutes, I think."

Mako gives them a quick bow when they reach the lobby. "I will see you later."

"Yeah, see you, Mako." Chuck raises his hand in a short wave goodbye and turns towards the elevator bank. 

Raleigh reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Raleigh and her are probably the most affected by the briefing's revelations, especially emotionally. He smiles at her in a way that tells her that he's as confused and shaken as she is, and it somehow makes her feel better to know that she's not alone in this strange situation. 

"I'll catch you later, Mako." Raleigh says quietly and gives her shoulder another squeeze before following Chuck to the elevator bank. Mako's gaze trails after them for a moment or two, then she straightens and forces her attention to focus on the here and now. She has a meeting to get to, and she'll need all her wits about her for that.

Still, Mako can already tell that the K-Science team's theories and the options they open up will not leave her alone anytime soon.


End file.
